As we watch the sh!t storm in DC that is a full throated cluster we don’t need to look to the East, it is occurring right in our town.
I asked the question not long ago, ‘What has TenHaken finished as mayor?’
I will give you the short answer; Nothing
Even his mentorship initiative, that I fully supported, was handed off to the Helpline center with a line item for taxpayers.
He knows how to win elections, raise money and even get others elected, he just doesn’t have a clue of how to lead.
Paul cut his teeth in the political world helping Republicans get elected in his former life, he is a partisan hack, and that is all he knows.
I wouldn’t even classify him as a Republican when I compare him to the likes of Staggers, Stehly and Brekke.
He is an authoritarian businessman that only cares about the green.
The most hilarious part is running a city isn’t really that difficult unless you have a natural disaster to deal with or a mass shooting, but that is also part of the job.
Your duties as councilor or mayor;
• Make government documents and information as open as possible (state law allows local government to determine what information they want to release, I will give you a clue, ALL OF IT. The only thing that should be hidden from the public is personnel files and pending litigation.)
• Collect taxes (but do it in a fiscally responsible manner. I was astonished at the informational meeting today when the city council made this recommendation for legislative priorities. Fiscally responsible bodies actually find ways to cut taxes.)
• Provide infrastructure and services with the taxes provided (I’m a pretty bare bones guy when it comes to how taxes are spent. I think we should only collect enough fees and taxes to have a balanced budget (minimal borrowing) and spend it only on NEEDED public services and infrastructure and let the entertainment and welfare developers fend for themselves. Just look at the millions we have thrown at parking ramps, etc., while we have virtually NO inventory of first time homes or more affordable new housing. If you think the housing crisis is bad now, wait until a year from now when our population growth will bottom out because there is NO place to live in Sioux Falls.)
Jerry Seinfeld said it best, “You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to keep the reservation.”
You wanted the fricking job, now do it!